For the upcoming two weeks, Kate will be a constant companion. My right
hand. My best friend, I guess you could say. Helping me drag my belongings
across the Atlantic Ocean to a far off land…

In case you’re still wondering who – or what – on earth I’m talking
about: Kate is the charming little leather backpack depicted above.

I got her from this lovely family business
called Gusti Leather and I am in love. Although in truth, I’ve only been
wearing her around the house so far…

Which is somewhat unnecessary I suppose. But do not forget, I am in lurv!

She is soft and kind of vintage-looking, has a good amount of pockets, and
smells like goat.

(I guess I could do without the smell, but hey, everyone has flaws. I’m
not judging!)

This weekend, I will be going on vacation, travelling from Vegas to San
Francisco in what I dare say will be the best road trip of 2015.

Partly because I have not been planning any other trips so far, let
alone any road trips.

But mainly because it’s going to be frickin’ awesome!

I have not been to the US since 2011 and I miss it loads and I am most
definitely going to have to make this vacation count!

So, over the past few days I have been spending quite some time thinking
about what to take along with me. Now, I do have a ginormous suitcase for all
the souvenirs I will taking back with me, naturally, but decided that this time I wanted to take only light
hand baggage with me. Something that would hold the most essential of the
essential on the long-haul flight, but would also be small enough to replace my
handbag when exploring the beautiful west coast.

And Kate just seemed to have that perfect size I was looking for.

Basically, everything I decided to take with me will fit nicely, without
Kate accidentally breaking my back.

So I decided to share with you my top in-flight travel essentials, and I
will return in April, nice and tanned (yeah right), and with loads of new
project ideas for us to share.

MY 22 IN-FLIGHT TRAVEL ESSENTIALS:

1. Kate, the backpack. Duh.

2. Passport and flight ticket. Make sure
you always have these at hand. You will be asked about them. A lot.

3. If applicable, bring a city map and travel
guide. This way, you have it ready to go once you’ve arrived at your
destination. This way you also have the opportunity to browse through the guide
during the flight, simply to get yourself into the right mood. The exciting I-can’t-believe-the-adventure-has-begun
kind of mood! (If you look closely you will realize that I actually
photographed a map of London. Which is probably because I do not actually own
one of San Fran. Or Las Vegas for that matter.)

4. If heading to a sunny destination, do not forget to
pack your sunglasses to have them ready to go after landing! You do not
want to have to rummage through that ginormous suitcase I mentioned earlier…

5. Bring a good book in case you get bored of
staring at a screen for 8+ hours. I haven’t actually decided what book to take
just yet, but am quite looking forward to this one, so I guess I might just
pack it: To Rise Again at a Decent Hour
by Joshua Ferris.

6. If you’re anything like me, you take notes
everywhere. All the time. So do not forget to bring a pen and a notebook.
(Or a sheet of paper at the least.) And if you want to know how I created that
notebook love-heart collage on the cover of mine, check out the tutorial here.

7. Cozy socks. The first thing you are going to want to do after boarding that plane is take off them shoes! But since it gets kind of cool up there, you might want to get nice and warm down there. (Rest assured, I am still talking about your feet!)

8. You might have an ipod or any other music-playing device which might be nice if you want to listen to your own music. In any case, do not forget to bring head phones! The ones they give out in the airplane are simply useless. That is at least my experience!

9. Your phone.

10. Your purse. Along with some money in every
currency required. You never know how soon you might need a little extra cash…
Really, just have all your valuables on you while travelling.

11. Chewing gum. Because I cannot live without.

12. Some pain killers. I will most definitely
not be taking an entire box with me contrary to what the photographs might
suggest. Actually, I am not sure why I did not just take a few out and put them
in the zip lock bag. No clue. Will have to do that…

14. A small pack of cleansing facial wipes. I
don’t know about you, but I do not typically wear makeup on a long haul flight.
The dry air up there really doesn’t do my skin any good and plastering my face
with foundation and concealer doesn’t help either, so I like to keep some
facial wipes at hand to freshen up every few hours.

15. A zip lock bag (which is now an official
must) with the following liquids:

16. Face/body/hand lotion. After cleaning my
face I like to moisturize with some face cream. I found this cream by Nivea
which is not only for your face, but acts as a hand and body lotion as well which
definitely saves some space in my carry-on, so I thought I’d give that a try!

17. Since my lips tend to dry up fairly quickly also, Carmex
or any other lip balm is a must.

18. I have been having some trouble with my eyes, they
have been quite irritated, soi will be taking a bottle of eye drops. I also
won’t be wearing contact lenses, but my glasses instead.

19. Deodorant and/or perfume are perfect for a
quick freshen-up. (Anyone sitting near you might be thankful also.)

20. Hand sanitizer is simply something I like
to have at hand when in crowded places. Or when sharing a tiny wet room with
strangers. Gross.

21. A hair ribbon is something girls should really
have in every single one of their pockets, because at some point your hair just
gets. in. the. way.

22. Now while I don’t wear makeup during the
flight, I will take some powder and a bottle of mascara with me in case I want
to make myself look a little more presentable after landing. From my
experience, I don’t look too well au naturel after a flight.

OPTIONAL:

25. I am not taking my camera with me on this
trip (no worries there will be pictures, but since there are so many
photographers coming along, I figured I could simply borrow theirs… I will be
bringing my own memory card though.) If I were to bring my camera
though, it would definitely end up be in my carry-on!

26. If they help you relax or potentially even sleep
during the flight, bring some earplugs!

27. Bring your tooth brush along if you find it oral hygiene is your thing.

Also, do not forget to wear comfortable shoes
that you can slip in and out of easily, and to bring a comfy sweater or
a big scarf for extra warmth!

What do you think, is this list sufficient or would you have
me add more?

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WELCOME

Be they written, sung, filmed, photographed or staged, stories are where I feel most at home. On this blog I want to share with you my own stories, projects and adventures after moving to Berlin. So grab yourself a cup of tea and be prepared to smile, laugh, cheer or cry. Hopefully smile more often than cry though.